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THOUGHTS ON PUBLIC POLICY STATEMENT IN RESPONSE
TO OPERATION RESCUE
by James J. Bacik
1. The policy itself should promote dialogue and be civil in
tone. Richard McCormick in an America article, July 22, 1978,
offers these rules for discussion: (1) Attempt to identify areas
of agreement -- for example, abortion is in most cases a tragic
and undesirable thing, and all should support better sex
education, reduce poverty, support practical alternatives to
abortion, etc.; (2) Avoid the use of slogans, such as describing
abortion as murder or speaking of "a woman's right to her own
body;" (3) Represent the other's position fairly -- for example,
do not say a woman who has an abortion necessarily has no respect
for unborn humans, or that all pro-lifers are just totally
preoccupied with the status of the unborn; (4) Distinguish right
and wrong, which concerns the objective moral status of abortion,
and the personal, private good or bad intention of those having
abortions; (5) Try to identify the core issue at stake — for
example, how do we evaluate nascent life, or do humans in the
process of becoming make moral claims on us, and to what extent
and why?; (6) Admit doubts, difficulties and weaknesses in one's
own position — for example, what about the status of the fetus
in pre-implantation stage, or the weakness of the pro-choice
statement that those opposed to abortion don't have to engage in
it (a position which does not recognize that some feel a
responsibility to stop the killing of unborn persons); (7)
Distinguish particular formulations from the substance of the
teaching or argument -- for example, Catholic teaching, despite
being against direct abortion, does hold that saving the life of
the mother is morally required even if it means the unborn baby
will die; (8) Distinguish morality and public policy; it is
possible to judge that abortion is generally morally wrong and
yet not be in favor of more restrictive laws; (9) Distinguish
morality and pastoral practice -- for example, it is possible to
show pastoral compassion to persons who for various reasons are
unable to accept or live out a position which accepts abortion as
morally wrong; (10) Incorporate the women's perspective into the
discussion.
2. Any policy has to recognize the enormity of the problem — an
estimated 1.5 million abortions a year; 30,000 a week; 4100 a day
(50,000 Americans were lost in the whole Vietnam War). We must
also recognize the tremendous problems in formulating an
acceptable public policy. Polls show U. S. citizens fairly
evenly split on the question. It is difficult to make policy
without consensus.
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